( Hogwarts )
Harry moved silently through the school's halls, the silencing charms on his leather boots helping him to avoid attracting unwanted attention as he slipped in and out of numerous side passages as he steadily made his way to the headmaster's office.
He had decided against telling his cousin in the end, since her reaction had to be as real as possible, believable and genuine were required, despite his ill feelings about keeping the truth from her. Unfortunately, it was a necessary evil to help maintain the illusion of his poisoning and murder at Pettigrew's hands. Lord Malfoy would be tipped off if anything didn't line up exactly as he expected.
Muttering the password to the headmaster's office, the two stone gargoyles moved to one side granting him access to the moving stairwell.
There was no need to knock since he was already expected by the headmaster, plus he suspected the headmaster had some type of identification ward over the door, which had likely announced his arrival in advance. He confidently walked into the ancient office like he belonged there.
"Good evening headmaster," he offered politely in greeting, as he quickly looked around the office, his eyes resting on the golden, fiery phoenix resting proudly on its ornate stand, whilst wondering where his godfather was, since Sirius was meant to be collecting him from the headmaster's office.
"Good evening Mr. Potter, please have seat," the headmaster offered while gesturing towards the free chair, for once foregoing offering him a sweet. That immediately had alarms ringing in his mind.
"Where is my godfather?" he asked, focusing his attention on the headmaster.
"Sirius will be along in a couple of minutes, he has probably been delayed, or is simply running a little late," Dumbledore offered with an easygoing smile, which instinctively set him on guard. "I thought that we could use this free time to talk about your official letter of complaint that you submitted the other day to Professor McGonagall."
"There is nothing to talk about," Harry shot back in annoyance. "The letter speaks for itself, there is no need for me to explain it or discuss it... And furthermore, that letter was from the Lord Black, not me, and thus it would be entirely inappropriate to discuss it with me. You should be talking with him only."
"Come now Mr. Potter, let's talk about this like adults, rather than petty children," Dumbledore pushed, not dropping the subject.
He saw red at the headmaster's remarks, "There is nothing you can say in your defence, as far as I'm concerned. You intentionally let slip that I was an animagus to the entire Great Hall. That is knowledge that is far too personal to share around like common gossip," Harry spat, his anger starting to get the better of him despite his best efforts. "An animagus form is an intrinsically personal thing, it is a reflection of the wizard's very soul; it should have been up to me and me alone who I shared that knowledge with, but you ripped that choice away from me with your little stunt with Professor Snape."
"I didn't force you to show your animagus form in the middle of the Great Hall Harry, you could have simply denied that you were an animagus," the aged headmaster countered with a toying smile.
He knew that he was being a hypocrite, of sorts. After all, he was in the middle of setting up his own minor surveillance network around the school, but his intention wasn't to do harm with it, unless it was to strike at an enemy. At the moment he was just testing out the theory, seeing if the idea could be deployed in the wider world by either himself or through his agent Rita. It was like beta testing a product or design prior to wide release in order to identify and eliminate the inevitable bugs before committing larger resources and time to develop the product. If it worked he had big plans on how to create an even wider network of surveillance around Britain.
"Don't call me that, it's Mr. Potter to you," Harry snapped back. "Of course I had to show it, otherwise I would have been called a liar and a fraud when the knowledge came out eventually, damaging my reputation, my family name, and my creditability for years to come, which you know all too well being a politician of your experience," he gave the headmaster a hate filled look. "And this was not the first offense against me; you do remember what Professor Snape did to me last year? You and your staff have invaded and disregarded my basic right to privacy several times now. Enough is enough. It's getting to the point that I'm questioning my continued attendance at Hogwarts," several of the magical portraits muttered quietly in agreement.
However before either he or the headmaster could continue their heated exchange, the office's fireplace suddenly changed colour, shifting from red to an acid green, announcing an incoming floo connection, the headmaster suddenly frowning.
"It seems that Sirius is early," the headmaster muttered as his godfather appeared from the fireplace.
"Good, you're already here pup, that saves us some time," Sirius announced as he looked around the room before turning to the headmaster. "Have the preparations been made?"
Sirius' question caught the headmaster completely off guard, before the elderly wizard regrouped. "Everything is set Sirius, we just need some fresh hair samples from Harry here for his auror replacement to use while he's away," the aged wizard replied, as he waved his hand towards Harry.
"Good," Sirius nodded, his wand appearing in hand and quickly cutting a lock of hair off Harry's head.
"Hey!" Harry protested in annoyance, as a lock of hairs fell to the floor which his godfather readily scooped up.
"Here," Sirius stated, placing the dark long hairs onto the desk. "I expect anything leftover to be immediately returned to us when this is done with. Come on Harry, it's time for us to go," Sirius giving the headmaster a firm look.
"What about my stuff?" Harry asked, thrown off balance by Sirius' hurried actions, his godfather directing him towards the fireplace.
"The house elves will transfer your belongings to number 12 as soon as your death has been faked, and the headmaster gives the order," Sirius quickly answered before the headmaster could say anything else.
The next thing he knew he was standing in the living room of Number 12, the fireplace still glowing a bright eerie green as his godfather stepped through a couple moments later. "What was that all about?" he demanded, his annoyance and anger leaking into his words at being manhandled so roughly by his godfather.
"Phineas told me what was going on, so naturally I came to your rescue," Sirius answered with a smug smirk.
"I thought the former headmaster portraits couldn't share anything they heard within the headmaster's private office?" Harry asked in confusion, remembering that Sirius had the former Hogwarts' headmaster portrait hanging in his private study, so that he could take advantage of the previous Lord Black's extensive experience and potent political insight.
"He didn't share anything directly, not really, he just told me that the headmaster was speaking to you," Sirius explained. "Phineas can't share any knowledge or secrets he hears within the headmaster's office, but he can tip me off in a general sense if something is afoot, if he chooses to that is. He couldn't tell me what Dumbledore was actually up to, but he made it clear that I should make haste," Harry nodded in understanding.
That was a fine distinction. "Phineas may think less of you due to your being a half blood, but you're a Black, and my heir, the future of the family will rest in your hands in time. And as far as he is concerned, despite his misgivings over your blood status, Blacks watch out for Blacks first and foremost. Family first, everyone else second, was the way he lived and so do I. So he'll be keeping an eye on you since you are family."
He considered Sirius' words on Phineas' philosophy and found he quite agreed with the idea. The idea that family came first, above all else, resonated deeply within him. It certainly fit his own worldview. He was out in the world for himself and his family, everyone else was second to that. "I think I should go and thank him then, after all it would be for the best to show my genuine appreciation," Harry expressed thoughtfully. Sirius nodded in agreement at this wise course of action.
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